Arch support



March .15, 1921.

B.l s. BoNAvEN-ruRE ARCH SUPPORT Filed March 15, 1925v i shown.

the strip so that they will be caused to ad- Patented Mar. 15, 1927.

UNITED STATES Parsirr rifles.

BARNEY S. BONAVENTURE, OF NEW YORK, 1\T. Y.

ARCI-I SUPPORT.

Application led March 13, 1925. Serial No. 15,297.

This invention relates to ana-rch support designed primarily for use in ballet slippers l' whereby it becomes possible for the wearer to dance on the toes with much-greater comfort than has heretofore been possible, it*

brace the foot at this point where .subjected to the greatest strains.

'Vith theforegoing and other objects in proceeds, the invention resides in the combination `and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood vthat changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made vwithin the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been In said drawings. Fig; 1 is a side elevation of an arch support, a ballet slipper in which it is located being illustrated by broken lines.

Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe device. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 Figure 2. Fig. 4 is a section on line 1 -1 Figure 2. Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 designates a strip of sole'leather shaped to correspond substantially with the insole of a ballet slipper S.- The front or toe portion of this strip is slit transversely as shown at 2, said slit extending back close to the middle portion of Strip 1 and also extending throughout the width of the strip.

Arranged longitudinally within the central portion of the slit 2 is a flat steel spring 3. This spring 3 is bowed in the direction of its length and is held to the bottomy portion of the strip v1 by rivets 5. After the flat spring has been 'attached as described a cement, preferably a thin sheet of rubber,

which has been indicated at t is placed be-I tween' the thicknesses of the slit portion of view which will appear as the description.

here and thus completely house the spring. y VVhen the device is placed in a slipper the` springreinforced portion will bow upwardlyas shown in Figure 1. Thus whenjthe foot of the user is placed in the slipper the arched portion` of the device will press` against the foot back of the toes and toward the arch, thereby supporting the foot and reinforcing it at the point where subjected to the greatest strains while the user is standing on the toes. l

What is claimed is: A j 1 l. As anarticle kof manufacture a foot support 'for insertion in a ballet-slipper to restupon the insole, said. support includingv v i a flexibley strip having a transverse slit eX- tending backwardly from its front end and terminating inthe intermediate or arch portion of thestrip, a bowed spring between the layers of the slit portion along the longitu n dlnal centerfthereof and tixedly connected to one layer of the,y slit portion, and an ad hesive for holding together the slit portion of the strip at the sides of. thebowed spring. "2. An artic-le of manufacture. for use as `afoot support for insertion into a ballet slipper, including a strip of flexible mate-v rial adapted to be placed upon the inner surface of the insole of the slipper, said strip` being slit transversely baclrwardly from its front end to a point adjacent the intermediate or arch portion, and -a bow spring` ar ranged longitudinally between the layers of the slit portion and extending from a point adjacent the front end thereof tothe inner end of the slit at the arch porti-on, and means for holding the slit portion against opening after the spring strip has been inserted. j f.

3. The combination with a ballot slipper` ofy a foot supporting attachment formed of a flexible strip' of material having its back vportion resting upon the insole of the slipper and its front portion formed as an arch i bridging the insole from the arch to the toe, and a resilient strip housedwithin that por tion of the flexible strip bridging the insole. In testimony that I claim the 'foregoingL as mv own, I have vhereto af'xed my signature. v

BARNEY S. BONAVENTURE. 

